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Thursday, July 10, 2008

I LOVE TO READ II

For the past week I have been trying to select a new more positive topic for my blog and frankly it has been very difficult. All the news I’ve seen in my daily review of the internet, numerous newspapers, radio, cable channels and national network television is most depressing and it has placed me in a blue funk.

Yesterday, I drew your attention to Ted Koppel’s Discovery Channel program on China and I hope many of you had an opportunity to view the show. I did and felt it was excellent. I plan to tivo the next three shows at 1000 PM this Thursday, Friday and, I believe, Saturday. As they say…check your local listings. The program was vintage Koppel and I, for one, am looking forward to viewing the entire series. This is what we all experienced in quality programs in the early days of television broadcasting and it is nothing like the current mindless reality crap.

As you know from by post back on April 23rd…I LOVE TO READ…and I make it a point to devote some portion of each day with my close personal friends …BOOKS.

On July 1st Brad Thor released his latest book titled THE LAST PATRIOT and I highly recommend it to your reading list. Thor is quickly becoming one of our great action adventure authors and this product is his very best. I won’t spoil your read, but it is a real page turner, exciting and reinforces one’s respect for our law enforcement personnel who sacrifice significantly for our daily safety.

This is Thor’s seventh book and if you have not read his work I suggest you might want to start with THE LIONS OF LUCERNE, then move on to PATH OF THE ASSASSIN, STATE OF THE UNION, BLOWBACK, TAKEDOWN, THE FIRST COMMANDMENT and finish with THE LAST PATRIOT.

Recently too, I have read and suggest Dale Brown’s SHADOW COMMAND and ever popular David Baldacci’s THE WHOLE TRUTH.

Frequently I have two or three different books sitting on my table at various stages of reading. One of them is Patrick Buchanan’s CHURCHILL, HITLER, and the UNNECESSARY WAR. This is a very interesting work that is well researched and revealing of many factual historical events. The conclusions are very shocking and point a rather unflattering finger at Churchill and the British Empire that still influences world events today. This is not light reading, but very enlightening.

Currently, I am also reading Dick Morris and Eileen McGann’s new book FLEECED and I am so frustrated by all the disgusting events in Washington that I may require medication. Their work is well sourced and documented, but it scares the hell out of me to see what our elected leaders are doing and not doing.

Lastly and maybe most importantly is Tim Weiner’s LEGACY OF ASHES, which is a 601 page paperback tome covering The History of the CIA. While Weiner is obviously a very liberal New York Times reporter he has covered the intelligence world for over twenty years and this work is very well researched and sourced. I am always impressed by the amount of time and work some authors spend on interviews and research sourcing. This is a somewhat ponderous read; I recommend it and feel you will be astounded by the many revelations covering every President from Harry Truman (the founder of the CIA) through current President Bush. Without spoiling the books conclusions, every single President since Truman has misused the CIA and each one has failed to lead the CIA on its proper mission and course. Shocking, but true, it renews my longstanding suspicions as to who really was responsible for the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and his brother Bobby Kennedy.

I hope you find as much satisfaction and joy from reading as I do. One of the greatest gifts we all have is our public libraries many of which were built by the generous gifts from steel baron Andrew Carnegie. I encourage you to visit your local library and explore its vast sources of information, education, and fun reads. You will widen your horizons.